The stage is set. The armies are in their positions.However, what Ariel had gathered hardly can be called an “army”, maybe a mob at a push, but it’s all she has. This handful of the fallen is her only chance for survival in the final battle. The pages of the final book of the “Celestial Creatures” are full of betrayal, power struggle, heartache and fulfilling one’s destiny: becoming the feared … becoming the feared archangel, the sole ruler of Heaven.
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I have received this review copy for free. My opinions are my own.
To be honest, writing this review is bittersweet. I started reading this series back in 2018 and now the story is over. But one thing I am sure about is that I enjoyed every single leg of the ride and I fondly look back on it.
Halo is the final chapter in the Celestial Creature saga, wrapping up the story that started all the way back on Earth. I am really impressed by Olga Gibbs’ ability to write a totally different story and even a different fantasy sub-genre for each book, making each book really unique.
In this conclusion, escaped captivity in Hell and uses it to her advantage to create an army to finally defeat the antagonist and go home to Uras. The plot of this book was crafted carefully, building up step by step, and in the end, it all made sense. I had several theories on how this series could end, but after finishing Halo I no longer think any other ending would make sense. I am honestly really satisfied by the ending and that makes it less bitter that this is the end.
The thing I was a little disappointed about was the pacing of the story. Without spoiling anything, I really loved the plot, but the book started rather slow and though the pacing picked up over the course of the book, the final conflict felt rushed and almost compressed compared to how long the rest of the book took. I also would have liked to read a bit more about Ariel’s life post the last conflict. There was a bit, but after seeing her fight so hard, I would have loved to see Ariel finally take some more rest.
Of all the books in this series, I think the main character, Ariel, goes through the most character development. Though the arc she went through from scared human girl in book one to the archangel she already had become in book three, just hear me out. There is something about what shaped Ariel that culminated together and then book four brought a spark to that. The Ariel at the end of book three/right at the start is definitely not the same person Ariel I saw at the end of Halo.
Halo contained both really great, signature writing of Olga Gibbs, really letting shine through her prowess as an author. But it also had pieces where the writing didn’t have a lot of flavour, and I sometimes struggled to stay hooked. The two alternated each other with different stages in between, and I personally think that this is the weakest book in this series, writing-wise. This doesn’t mean that the writing wasn’t up to Gibbs’ standards, as some of my favourite and in my opinion the best-written passages were in this book.
I still highly recommend this series, that not something that hasn’t changed. And I also recommend Halo itself (you do need book 1-3 to understand it though!), as it’s an amazing piece of YA fantasy. It isn’t the strongest book in the series, but it’s a worthy end of the saga. Olga Gibbs her writing is most definitely worth checking and the Celestial Creatures series is an amazing YA story for those that want to read something that isn’t like the standard YA fantasy.